ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team wrapped up its regular-season slate on Wednesday afternoon when it welcomed Clarkson in what amounted to a playoff preview on the Higgins Stadium field turf. With both sides locked into their respective seeds heading into the Liberty League Tournament Quarterfinals this weekend, IC ensured that confidence would be with the home side this Saturday by pulling away from the Golden Knights for a 14-7 victory. The win improved Ithaca's record to 13-2 overall and 6-2 in its first cycle through the Liberty League.
 
Although the end result looked dominant, things were not quite so rosy for Ithaca during the outset. The Bombers looked listless through the opening 23-minutes of game action, while the visitors capitalized on the slow start to pull ahead 3-0. Once Ithaca found its legs it never looked back, rattling off 10 consecutive goals over the second and third quarters to pull away. Although Clarkson finally snapped the string in the fourth quarter, it was much too late as IC's offense continued to stay hot in answering four Golden Knight tallies with four of its own to score the lopsided win.
 
Leading the way offensively for the Bombers was junior midfielder Josh Della Puca who continued to look his old self with another dominant effort. He racked up a game-high four points on three goals and one assist. The third-year player also picked up two ground-balls and one caused turnover in the contest. For Della Puca, it was his second straight multi-point effort, while it was his third hat-trick performance of the season.
 
Sophomore attacker Dan Lee had his best game of the year in his most extended action of the season. He finished with three points on two goals and one helper on the day to mark his second straight multi-point effort in as many appearances.
 
Three other Ithaca players collected a pair of points on the afternoon. Junior midfielder Brendan King posted his fourth multi-goal game of the year and first since IC's victory over SUNY Oneonta in late March, finishing with two goals. Senior wing Kaelan Fitzpatrick registered one goal and one assist, while fellow classmate attacker Jake Cotton marked a pair of assists to eclipse the 130-mark for his career.
 
Adding one goal apiece for the Bombers were: seniors Steven Landspurg and Stephen Morrell, junior Greg Drillock, as well as freshmen Jake Hall-Goldman, Ryan Jacob, and Dillon Fitzpatrick. Chipping in one point apiece on assists were senior defenseman Keith Morrissey, freshman attacker Connor Brumfield, and sophomore midfielder Kevin Enos.
 
Defensively, Ithaca finished with 16 caused turnovers in the tilt, while it held Clarkson to just a 16-for-26 mark in successful clear attempts. Leading the way for the Bombers was another standout effort from graduate-student Winston Wenham. He had a huge game with five caused turnovers and nine ground-balls. Morrissey added two caused turnovers and two ground-balls, while sophomore Aaron McCartney and freshman Drew German finished with one caused turnover apiece. Rookie long-stick Hall-Goldman had a big two-way afternoon finishing with three caused turnovers and two ground-balls in addition to his goal.
 
In goal, sophomore Robby Atwood improved his record to 13-2 on the year with a steady performance. He collected eight saves in the contest.
 
The opening quarter was one to forget for Ithaca, as the home side was able to get little going on either side of the field. Clarkson held the majority of possession, while it was able to force several IC mistakes in the attacking zone. Showing some frustration, IC took two undisciplined penalties, which the Golden Knights turned into man-up goals from Tanner Cioffi and Sam Groves. The beginning of the second quarter continued to favor the visitors, as Evan Burgett fired a shot past Atwood to improve the Clarkson lead to 3-0 with 11:58 left in the half.
 
Ultimately, it was a reliable leader that finally sparked IC's fire in the contest. Della Puca got Ithaca on the board with 7:04 left in the half. Receiving a feed from Cotton at the center point, he loaded up a bounce-shot that bested the Clarkson keeper into the lower left of the cage to finally break the ice for Ithaca on the scoreboard.
 
Three goals over a span of 1:35 jettisoned Ithaca into its first lead as the teams reached the halftime break. Kaelan Fitzpatrick got the stretch started with 3:33 left in the half, with a similar bounce-shot to Della Puca's opener with the senior scoring on the run as he moved from right-to-left across the zone. Lee followed with an excellent goal from the left wing. The sophomore worked free behind the defense and Della Puca picked him out with a great pass. Although the goalie came out and actually sent Lee off-balance with a check, he was able to get a shot off into the vacated cage as he tumbled to the turf. Drillock capped the scoring in the half, as he whipped a left-handed shot against the grain inside the right post as he moved from right-to-left across the top of the zone. Drillock's score pushed Ithaca into the lead with 1:58 left in the half.
 
When play resumed in the third quarter it was heavily tilted in favor of the Bombers. Lee got things started with 11:50 left in the third with a cannon shot form the center point. Another scoring spurt a few minutes later widened the margin even further, turning the 5-3 lead into a comfortable 9-3 advantage. Ithaca scored four times in a 2:06 stretch to take control.
 
King got things started in the scoring stretch with 7:22 left, scoring on a turning shot from right on top of the crease. Lee picked out the junior with a perfect pass from the perimeter. Morrell followed with his goal less than a minute later, firing a shot from the center-point into the bottom right. Della Puca split the defense to notch his second goal of the day with 5:35 remaining, while Hall-Goldman capped the scoring right off the ensuing draw. He out-muscled a Clarkson midfielder to earn possession, before weaving on a hard center drive to the net and firing a laser into the upper right corner of the cage. It was the rookie's second goal of his career.
 
King capped the scoring in the frame with 3:35 to play in the third, sweeping home a rebound shot from in front after Cotton had his shot saved.
 
Della Puca notched his hat trick with 12:45 to play in the fourth, while Dillon Fitzpatrick bested Clarkson reserve keeper on a five-hole shot from the left wing. The final two goals came in transition with Landspurg and Jacob netting goals off the rush to ice the game.
 
Ithaca returns to action this weekend when Clarkson comes back to South Hill for a 1:00 p.m. start at Higgins Stadium on Saturday, April 28, in a Liberty League Quarterfinal matchup.